Joan Leach On Pamela Miller Ness Pamela Miller Ness and Chiyo-ni

CALM WATERS Selected Haiku by Joan Leach Hi, my name is Joan Leach. Thank you for choosing to read my collection of haiku. Calm Waters is a representation of my best haiku that I have written through out the course of the semester. I chose this title because it matches the majority of my haiku. They are all calming and my goal is to have the reader think peaceful thoughts while reading them. My approach to haiku is simple. I try to take memories or moments in my life and transfer them into a three line haiku. I try to capture my most special moments or memories to have the reader guessing what I am about. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Reader’s Introduction Once I held Joan’s collection in my hands and read the title "Calm Waters," I knew it was going to be great. The name of her collection reflects on her personality very much. Joan is a great person and always knows what to say at the right time. She is a very "calm" person and it reflects in the way she writes haiku. My favorite from her collection is:           lying in bed together           morning sun           across my face I liked this one so much because it reminds me of something I would write. You can tell that this came directly from her heart. The title of her collection goes good with this because when you wake up next to someone you care about there is a sense of calmness that fills your body. I really enjoyed Joan’s collection and I just wanted to tell her that it’s been great getting to know you and I am so glad we became close friends and hope to stay that way. You are the best reading partner anyone can have! Enjoy ~Matt Eichhorn